HRNSW - Appointment of Board Members

[David Summers]

Anyone here interested in applying ?

http://www.harnesslink.com/www/Article.cgi?ID=93933

[triplev123]

Call me a cynic David but isn't the following directly at odds with the above?...as in the claim that this is an industry-appointed Board chartered to operate autonomously of Government yet according to the above applications for Board spots are apparently being vetted by OLGR?

From the web page- http://www.hrnsw.com.au/what-we-do.html

WHAT WE DO

Harness Racing New South Wales (HRNSW) conducts the commercial and regulatory functions of the harness racing industry in NSW.
Operating under the Harness Racing Act 2009, HRNSW is controlled by an industry-appointed Board of five, headed by an independent Chairman and is chartered to operate autonomously of government in managing the strategic and commercial development of harness racing in NSW as a not-for-profit corporate body.

Functions performed by HRNSW include registration of harness racing clubs, strategic planning, insurance administration, allocation and scheduling of race meetings, distribution of funds, negotiation of commercial agreements, development of breeding and handicapping policy, management of capital works and the regulatory control of the industry, as well as a range of other activities previously performed by the NSW Harness Racing Authority (HRA) and the Greyhound and Harness Racing Regulatory Authority (GHRRA).

HRNSW employs over 30 staff to undertake the day-to-day running, management and administration of the industry and is also responsible for the publication and distribution of the NSW Harness Racing Gazette, the industry’s leading monthly magazine.

Board and management from HRNSW provide industry representation to Harness Racing Australia (HRA).

[David Summers]

That's why I posted the link which seem to be at odds with their previously stated "mantra". I knew you would take the bait Jaimie.

Is anyone able to work out why the complete discrepancy?

[triplev123]

http://www.ixlbook.com/images/Smoke%20&%20Mirrors%20book%20cover.gif

[triplev123]

Have sought and received some clarification on this one David.
This time around the structure of the Board changes from an Industry Appointed to Independent as per the Harness Racing Act of 2009. The same will happen to the Greyhounds. The TB's have had an Independent Board for a while.
This requires that ALL members must be independent...so that means because of their respective race club affiliations that neither Rex (NSWHRC) nor Les(Bankstown) will be able to go around again but Graeme could stand again as could Rob though of course as is the way with all such things, there are no guarentees that either would get another term. I'm not sure how I feel about this to be honest. Will have to sit and ponder it for a while.

[triplev123]

Having pondered :p, what exactly are the implications of an 'Idependent Board'?
Does that mean that we get Jobs for the Boys non-racing, bean counter, desk pilot, seat polisher boffin types on there ala the GHRRA back when Labor was in Office here in NSW? We all saw what an absolute bloody shambles that became.

[teecee]

Yep you got it in 4 and added together equals ....you got that too...absolute bloody shambles...!!!!

[triplev123]

G'day Tony,
It bothers me greatly that over the years Harness Racing here in NSW has periodically suffered as a result of it being used as a political football.
Up until the current Board of HRNSW it has virtually always been a bit of a Jobs for the Boys routine to varying degrees. IMO the GHRRA Board were by both word & deed...shall I use the term 'politically sympathetic'?...to the Labor Government of the day and I sincerely hope the incoming Board of HRNSW, whomever they may turn out to be, are sympathetic only to the wants, needs and desires of the NSW Harness Racing Industry and NOBODY ELSE.
The very fact that their applications are being collected & vetted by OLGR does not fill me with any great hope for an independence of Government however.
IMO it's akin to claiming that a Chicken is Free Range...when in fact it is simply living in a large cage.
On a related note, you can guarentee that various levels of desk pilot within the Department of Gaming & Racing have used the recent upheavals within the Industry to fend off Premier O'Farrell's widely foreshadowed reductions to the NSW Public Service, instead using it as an exucse to butress their numbers and perhaps even increasing them. It's all about empire building and has little or nothing to do with the longer term well-being of the Harness Racing Industry.

[coldshot]

G'day Tony,
The very fact that their applications are being collected & vetted by OLGR does not fill me with any great hope for an independence of Government however.


Initially I thought VVV may have been alarmist so I decided to invest this morning's coffee break in a admittedly hurried reading of the Harness Racing Act. The conditions of Section 7 'The Selection Panel must not recommend a person for appointment as a member of HRNSW unless the Panel is satisfied that the person has experience in a senior administrative role or experience at a senior level in one or more of the fields of business, finance, law, marketing, technology, commerce, regulatory administration or regulatory enforcement' associated with being eligible to be a Board Member are pretty clear-cut and I think are the same for all codes now.

Section 6 then sets out all the reasons why someone could not be eligible to be a Board Member:

A person is not eligible to be a member of HRNSW if the person:
(a) is an employee of a harness racing club, or
(b) is a member of the governing body of a harness racing club or eligible industry body, or
(c) is registered by or with HRNSW under this Act, or
(d) is registered or licensed by or with GRNSW under the Greyhound Racing Act 2009 , or
(e) holds a licence issued by Racing New South Wales, or
(f) is currently, or during the previous 10 years has been, warned off, disqualified or named on the Unpaid Forfeit List under the rules, or
(g) during the previous 10 years has been convicted in New South Wales of an offence that is punishable by imprisonment for 12 months or more, or convicted elsewhere than in New South Wales of an offence that, if committed in New South Wales, would be an offence so punishable, or
(h) is an undischarged bankrupt or is taking advantage of the laws in force for the time being relating to bankruptcy, or
(i) is a mentally incapacitated person.
(3) A person is not eligible to be appointed as a member of HRNSW if the person is a member of the Selection Panel at the time the Selection Panel makes its recommendation for the appointment concerned.
(4) A person is not eligible to hold office as a member of HRNSW for more than 8 years in total (whether or not involving consecutive terms of office).
(5) While a person is a member of HRNSW, any entitlement of the person to vote as a member of a harness racing club or of an eligible industry body is suspended.

I nearly missed the first clause of Section 6 'The Minister is to establish a Selection Panel to recommend persons for appointment as members of HRNSW and to recommend the term of office of members' which on reading has me leaning towards agreeing with VVV's concerns. The critical issues will be the composition of the Selection Panel and who applies (or is encouraged to apply).

With all the restrictions on club membership, employees and registered persons, it seems to me that things are pretty much geared towards owners. Fair enough I suppose seeing their investment in the sport.

[triplev123]

G'day Rebecca,

Political appointments of either persuasion bother me more than anything else.
I don't think it does the Industry any good at all to have a Board that is rubber stamped by the State Government of the day & I say this on the basis that what is good for the Industry and what is good for the Government of the day are not neccessarily always going to be one & the same. If the Board is going to be so widely trumpeted as being Independent then it should truly be Independent & not a political semantics version thereof.
Don't get me wrong, I am nothing short of overjoyed that Barry O'Farrell & his team are now in Office here in NSW for his NSW State Labor predecessors were a Sussex St. Machine Men driven abject disgrace.
Our State Member here is now Kevin Conolly & he's a great bloke. His Office is about 400m up the road from my house. Thumbs up across the board for him.
It's just that above & beyond Politics, I want what we all want, that which is best for the NSW Harness Racing Industry...and I am yet to be convinced that an OLGR sifted & vetted Board line-up is going to stand & fight the good fight on behalf of the NSW Harness Racing Industry should the need arise for them to do so.
Happy to be proven wrong of course but I've seen too much of politics and of OLGR in both this and other spheres of their operation to hold out any great hopes at this juncture.

[coldshot]

VVV - independent is bureaucratic shorthand for 'we take no responsibility whatsoever if they stuff things up'. Perhaps we will be less cynical if/when they announce the composition of the selection panel. At the end of the day I hope a good Board arises and is given the opportunity to do good things. If any ex GHRRA, HRA Board Members are recycled I will fully subscribe to the VVV Conspiracy Theory newsletter. :p

[triplev123]

G'day Rebecca,

It's not a conspiracy theory...rather it's an expectation that history will repeat itself but this time on the other side of the House & with the obligatory ample urging from empire builders within the Gaming and Racing Department.
To paraphrase Sir Humphrey Appleby from Yes, Minsiter...
"Conjurers offer their audience any card in the pack and always get them to take the one they want. This is the way the Public Service get their Ministers to make decisions".
As I said before, I fear we may be lumped with a host of non-racing background political appointments who'll do little or nothing to further the interests of the NSW Harness Racing Industry.
By & large I believe the current Board has done a very good job and it's precisely because each member is, in one way or another, directly involved in & so fully understand the sport which they currently oversee. This to me is an inescapable & irrefutable fact.
Can we expect to get a Board of similar quality, knowledge & focus the next time around? That is the question.
OLGR has an opportunity here to prove me wrong of course.
By way of whomever is selected from the nominations receieved quite clearly they have an upcoming opportunity to not only transcend...but far more importantly be seen by one and all to have transcended...the usual party political bullshit that NSW has periodically suffered under the weight of pretty much since as far back as I can remember. They have an opportunity to appoint a new Board which will pick up the torch of the current one and carry it forward. Nothing is left to us now but to watch and to wait. Forgive me if I do not hold my breath. :(